


there's one thing i'll do if it ever goes wrong

by dankobah



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: (all the spices of life), Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Money, Rey is Bisexual, Sex, ben works in cannabis, eat the rich, high society - Freeform, rey smokes a lot of weed as a past time, socialites and bachelors, trust fund babies and heiresses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:28:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22933324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dankobah/pseuds/dankobah
Summary: Two households, both alike in dignityIn fair Manhattan, where we lay our sceneFrom ancient grudge break to new mutinyWhere civil blood makes civil hands unclean.ora Modern Heir and Heiress AU
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Rose Tico, Leia Organa/Han Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 33
Kudos: 61
Collections: The Perfect Date - Pink Ladies Spring Exchange





	1. it's a part of the unknown

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CoinToYourWitcher](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoinToYourWitcher/gifts).



> tags  
> drinking/alcohol consumption
> 
> welcome to reylo babe, hope you'll enjoy!

Clubs like these make his eyes hurt.

A dull ache if you will, just behind his corneas and radiating to the back of his skull at the technicolor lights and candy colors that make up Manhattan’s most busy club, Kasakar. There are girls dancing in cages, bottles of champagne being passed around, people being thrown out.

Overall, at age thirty-one, he is too fucking old for this place. The dubstep and electronic music are nice to his brain though, like a warm hug.

It’s rare that he gets out of the house to go to places like this, Hux accusing agoraphobia every chance he gets. 

If you were as rich as Ben, you wouldn’t go outside unless you have to. 

Being this rich makes it hard to blend in, the designer digs on his body making him prey. Any luxury freak could clock his Ralph Lauren or Givenchy, even Lacoste for god’s sake. It’s also the way he walks according to Hux; full of arrogance and faux confidence that sticks around until he opens his mouth.

That’s where the rich man is replaced with the anxious boy who has a hard time with social interactions that don’t deal with his wing of the family business: cannabis. He doesn’t use it, though he’s considered it for his crippling anxiety some nights, but it’s what he’s done with the marketing degree and the ungodly amount of cash still left in his trust fund.

He still can’t shake his mother’s or his uncle’s shadow, or god forbid his oil tycoon grandfather. 

Tonight is supposed to be a reprieve from the challenging week, Hux taking him out to get away from the bullshit that comes with running a company. Hux is his CFO, his partner in crime so to speak. And Hux is talking to a short Asian girl, who’s twirling her hair around her finger as he tries to talk smooth.

Ben doesn’t know when that happened but he’s alone with his thoughts, hell for an anxious person. He sips his gin and tonic and watches the crowd dance on the floor below, the whole place feeling like its shaking.

He wishes he was that excited to be here. The beat drops and people scream, Ben shutting his eyes and sipping his drink. Maybe he can escape, leave Hux to go home with the person who captures his attention.

“Some club, huh?”

The voice is angelic and British, capturing his attention like a fly fisherman throwing a line. That reminds him to ask his dad if he can come to Wyoming to fish this summer. Maybe he could just escape, check out Colorado just next door-

He needs to look at the girl, that’s right. He opens his eyes and looks over and down.

Under the cacophony of bright lights, her eyes shine so brightly. She’s a brunette, her hair pulled back into three buns. Her freckles smatter across her nose and cheeks, showing a full life in the sun's gaze. Her lip is pulled between her teeth and she stares at him like he has six heads.

Is this because he didn’t respond? He rectifies it immediately, despite wanting to crawl further into his skin at the prospect that she could be interested in him.

He’s not worth being interested in.

“Not my taste. I’m Ben.” He holds out his hand as a formality for her to shake and she sets her drink on the railing. She then takes it and shakes, Ben noting the size difference of their hands and biting his lip. 

She then introduces, “Rey. My friends and I have bottle service if you and your friend want to join us.” That’s a nice offer, and he wonders why Hux didn’t just splash for a private table for Ben to sulk and drink at. He would’ve paid him back two-fold for the courtesy. 

“That sounds great, lead the way.” Then he hits Hux on the arm to get his attention away from the other girl. 

She speaks, to Rey this time, “Did you invite them?”

Rey asks, “Where do you think we’re going, dummy?” She whips her hair over her shoulder and walks away, Ben looking back at Hux.

He mouths, “Follow her, idiot.” Ben does as he’s bid and follows Rey to the VIP tables that are guarded by a bouncer. She flashes a stamped hand and Ben’s and Hux’s hands are stamped as they enter into the sheer and curtained off area. 

Her group is all girls, and he wants to turn around and run. Women, given he can only handle one at a time, freak him the fuck out. He loves them, he fucks them, he wines and dines them.

But god damn it is he awkward with them, and with his bachelor’s face in the society pages at his mother’s request, he’s bound to get pounced on. Rey plops down in the booth and pats the seat next to her. “You, come here.” She’s pushy, and he points to himself in question.

“Yes, you. Do I need to repeat myself?” He sits down, and she scoots close, viewing him as a little screech owl would. 

She observes, “You look nervous.” Is it that obvious? 

He frowns and she says, “I don’t bite. What do you do Ben?” 

Ben words it carefully, “I work in the cannabis industry.” In reality, it’s much more complex than that, and he sighs. 

“Interesting.”

He asks, as a formality, “What do you do?”

“I’m a student at Barnard.” 

“Studying what?” College girls aren’t typically his type, considering himself too old to stalk a campus for student prey. He feels like a creep until he realizes that she approached _him_. Not the other way around. 

Isn’t he allowed to have fun? He constantly has to ask himself if he can. 

“Well, I’m a business major right now but I want to move to early childhood education.” She smiles a winning smile, and it makes his gut turn. 

He asks, “What brings you out tonight?”

Rey says, the matter of fact tinging her tone, “It’s Friday, isn’t it? Any respecting New Yorker goes out.” 

She asks then, “Want a drink?” He nods, and she pours a drink of mostly vodka, adding a little less orange juice. He notes the vodka is Grey Goose, so he’s willing to drink it. He’s a liquor snob because of his father, and he tosses the drink back, gulping down half of it to loosen up a little more.

Rey watches him with a heart-warming smile when the liquor immediately knocks him upside the head at fifty miles per hour, “There you go. You were looking a little deer in the headlights.”

He opens his mouth, and she says with little giggles, “Am I that scary?”

Ben shakes his head, “No, no, no, I just…I normally don’t-” 

The song switches and Rey shrieks at the top of her lungs, “This is such a good song!” Then she bobs her head to the beat while pouring herself a drink, and Ben swallows before listening.

_If we can make it_

_No one has to know_

_It's a part of the unknown_

Then he continues talking despite his body screaming not to. “I just don’t do clubs normally. I’m here because of Hux-” He looks to the ginger, who has the Asian girl in his lap and is whispering in her ear. 

Rey answers his question, “That’s Rose.” Ben nods and looks back at her, focusing on her eyes locking with his.

“Drink the rest of your drink and relax. Let me show you how to loosen up.”

Her words are enchanting, making him do exactly as she says.

-♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡-

He’s interesting.

Rey does this thing a lot on Fridays, trapping some poor, unsuspecting guy in the little web she weaves. 

The trap? Herself, her family, who she’s meant to be.

Being so rich complicates matters for a tender girl, being an orphan even more so. Rey is not your standard little orphan Annie. She didn’t capture the heart of a wealthy businessman and charm him with song.

She was born into a family as ugly as sin, one who cares about keeping the sin within. Since her parents tried to traffick her and dipped (according to her grandfather), Palpatine has been in charge of his granddaughter and her wellbeing. 

Rey grew up alone. Well, obviously she had strict nannies that would stick her face in her mess and tutors that would snap a ruler across her knuckles when she tried to draw or write with her left hand. Rey underwent etiquette, socialite training to the umpteenth degree to make her into a perfect and pretty girl.

Most of it worked. Rey can’t imagine having dirt under her nails that remind her of the Saharan desert her parents traversed with her when she was very young. Palpatine never let go that it cost thousands to pluck her from the foster system in Morocco, or that her parents escaped his clutches.

They would never pay for what they’ve done.

It’s not something to think about on such a joyous night like this when she’s got a man who’s willing to pay attention to her. Sometimes she feels like a little girl with men like him, unsophisticated and stupid.

He doesn’t treat her like so, watching her and listening to her prattle on about philosophy or dogs or how much she loves his jeans. Ben drinks and listens and occasionally offers a quip or two but no more.

He’s the perfect man for all intents and purposes and she wonders how long it will last. Five minutes until she fucks up and says something wrong? Or maybe he’ll take her back to his place and figure out she’s just a scared little thing beneath all this faux confidence.

Either way, she’s not looking forward to it. Rose leans to whisper in her ear, her ginger boy toy for the night in the restroom, “I’m going home with Hux. I’ll have you two exchange information.” 

Rey says, “I’m probably going home with Ben. I’ll need the same.” Then she looks at Ben, who’s sipping a drink.

“Can I go home with you?” She knows she’s bold but couldn’t care less.

Ben replies, “Uh yeah, I can call an Uber-”

Rey suggests, “It’s a nice night for the subway, don’t you think? Can talk more?”

He raises his brows and she beams. He asks, “Do you want to go right now?” 

Rey nods, standing up and pulling on her fur. She tosses her hair and adjusts the fur on her shoulders. Then she views the pretty pink, short and squared off acrylics she hopes to see creating tracks in Ben’s skin. Hux comes back to the table and Rey clears her throat. “I need your number and a photo of your ID.” 

Hux raises his brows, and she scowls. She’s used to getting what she wants immediately, and he hesitates before getting out his wallet and pulling his ID. Then she snaps a photo, and Rose is doing the same with Ben.

They exchange numbers and Rey says under her breath, “Treat her right or I’ll skin you alive.”

Hux hands the phone back and flashes a tight smile. Rey turns to Ben and holds out her hand that doesn’t have her Yves Saint Laurent clutch in it.

He takes it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> work title by ["downtown" by Lilla Vargen](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG9WxJb_1HQ)  
> chapter title by ["the unknown" by bonnie x clyde](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qpvl-eeh25Y)
> 
> [FAUX fur coat (edit: 2/28/2020, forgot to clarify it was faux!)](https://fineart.ha.com/itm/other/a-zsa-zsa-gabor-fur-coat-circa-1960swhite-floor-length-long-sleeves-large-collar-with-peaked-lapels-lined-in-ivory-c/a/5371-65024.s)   
> 


	2. if you front then i'll be bouncing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She smiles, “Being surrounded by a bunch of smart women like me. Don’t love my degree as much.”
> 
> Ben says, “You could change over.”
> 
> Rey swallows, “I’m working on it. My grandfather pays for my school so he has a say.”
> 
> Ben shakes his head, “He really doesn’t. It’s your life we’re talking about.”
> 
> Rey snorts, **“I wish it was my life.”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tags  
> joint smoking  
> slight dubcon smut  
> alcohol drinking

Leaving the club isn’t eventful.

What is eventful is how Rey hits the pavement and lights a joint she produces from out of nowhere, lighting it up with a white lighter that matches her fur.

He realizes then that she’s an odd one. Ben focuses on her as she smokes and walks next to him, blowing the smoke away from him and brushing her hair out of her face. “You work in cannabis yet you look like a deer in the headlights.”

He replies, “I don’t smoke it.”

“Do you eat it?”

“I do nothing but make money with it. It’s illegal to smoke on the street.” Ben knows he’s being a buzzkill, but he’s not looking to watching her get arrested.

She laughs, “Nothing is illegal for me.” Smoke drifts from her nostrils and stops by the entrance to the train and Ben stops as well. It’s so she can finish her joint, he thinks, but then she’s dragging his head down by his collar and smashing her lips against his.

Ben hasn’t kissed a woman in...oh god, he doesn’t even want to think about it. He could have any woman he wants according to his mother, but she doesn’t have to live with his huge nose and massive ears all the time. Rey’s nose is dainty and freckle covered, her ears a regular size.

So why is she kissing him? She’s a great kisser, and he tries hard to melt and let her do what she wants. It sort of works as his lips part and her tongue slips in, tangling with his like shoelaces. 

She pulls away to breathe first. A blush is blooming like a rose across her cheeks. He’d like to buy her roses: one box of those thirty-six forever roses. Then they’d never die. 

The joint is half burned down, and she smashes it beneath her Converse sneakers. Then she smooths out the black dress beneath the white fur. He asks, “So who killed an animal for you?”

Rey looks up and her lips wrap around one word, “Faux.” Then she walks past him and down the stairs to the train. He follows close behind, getting out his metro card. Rey is not, hopping over the turnstile instead and brushing her hair out of her face while Ben looks on in shock.

“I don’t think people should have to pay for the fare.” Ben swipes his card and goes through.

“That’s how MTC transportation makes money-”

“Oh, so they can hire more cops to go after particularly people of color?” She makes a great point and they walk to the platform. 

“So you live in SoHo?”

He nods, “For a few years now. Before that, I lived in Boston.” 

Rey’s eyebrows raise, “Why’d you live in Boston?”

Ben doesn’t enjoy dropping that he went to Harvard since Harvard will probably claim never to know him due to his involvement in cannabis. He’s had conservative-leaning classmates stop talking to him when he’s confessed his plan for his business degree.

So instead he omits, “College. What about you, Miss Barnard? What’s your favorite part of going?”

She smiles, “Being surrounded by a bunch of smart women like me. Don’t love my degree as much.”

Ben says, “You could change over.”

Rey swallows, “I’m working on it. My grandfather pays for my school so he has a say.”

Ben shakes his head, “He really doesn’t. It’s your life we’re talking about.”

Rey snorts, “I wish it was my life.”

-♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡-

He’s given her something to think about.

Rey was expecting this to be just a quick lay with a guy that’s definitely packing. There’s something unsuspecting about Ben that she assumes is a huge cock. He walks like he has one, walking into the apartment building with her. 

It’s a high rise in SoHo, an area she shops all the time. If she’s not mistaken, she nabbed her fur from a high-end thrift shop in SoHo. Rose would know, she was with her and less high than she was at the time. The lobby is a pristine white and Ben holds out his hand for her to hold as they enter. Rey takes it carefully and holds it close to herself like someone has given her a precious gift. His hand is warm and guiding instead of leading. 

They take the elevator up to his floor, and Rey looks at her feet the entire time they go up. Ben asks, “Would you like a drink when we get in?”

How formal of him, Rey’s never been invited for drinks in a man’s apartment. She’s always been told she’s a whore if she relishes in male attention.

Her grandfather can go fuck himself tonight. 

“Maybe a glass of wine? I can show you around the house?”

He walks out of the elevator and takes her with him down the hall to his front door. His apartment is on the left side of the hallway and Rey suspects that it must be a good omen. 

Everything about Ben seems like a good omen.

“I’d like a glass of wine and your pants off.” 

That makes him blush beet red as he gets out his keys and unlocks the door. Then he flicks on a few lights to the very cozy and well-decorated apartment inside. A massive grey couch dominates the living room they step into, and Rey leans down and takes off her shoes.

Ben breaks from her and walks to the small kitchen. Rey stands in the large window wells, shoving past the chairs to look at the city below. “Red or white?”

“Rosé if you have it. Otherwise a white in the Moscato variety.” Rey considers herself to be a basic bitch regarding wine. 

“Lucky for you, I drink a rosé occasionally.” She looks back in time to watch his strong forearms pull the cork from the bottle to pop. Then he pours it and she walks over, taking the glass and sipping it carelessly.

It tastes of strawberries and raspberries with a dryness that sucks all moisture from the back of her palate. Overall, it’s perfect. She expresses this with a little less enthusiasm, “Mm, good.” 

“Right? Light and easy summer sipping. I like to take this stuff onto the roof-”

Rey interrupts him, “Are you going to take off your pants now?”

Ben’s mouth is slack, and she asks, “Or maybe my dress?” She drops the fur at her feet and brushes her hair out of her face.

He gazes at her, dumbfounded and for a moment, she’s worried she’s done something wrong. She holds strong as he comes around the counter, hands traveling up her thighs and up her skirt to hold on to her hips.

“You like it hard and fast, huh?” 

Rey whispers, close to his lips, “I don’t waste time.” Their lips link up then and his hands travel behind her to unzip her dress, then going down to his own jeans. 

She pulls away at that, “Bedroom?” Ben picks her up after she sheds her dress and walks her to a bedroom off the living room. He sets her on her feet inside of the creamy white-walled room. His sheets are also grey and Rey is still holding her phone and wine from her fur pocket. Rey downs the rest of the wine in two gulps, not savoring it at all. The bouquet makes it easy to do so. 

When she’s done, she asks, “Do you have a charger?” He nods and takes it from her, leaning down to plug it in. She takes that opportunity to set the glass on the wood nightstand and crawl onto the bed, not bothering to remove her panties. That’s his job.

Ben leans up and stares at her as he strips off his tee and jeans, pulling his belt through the loops. What she wouldn’t give for that to crack across her ass, a fresh shot of pain that would be like getting a Sunday Rolfing session with Gina. 

Ben doesn’t seem ready for that kind of sex yet, and he yanks her to the edge of the bed by her legs, knees bending at the edge of the mattress as he crawls between them. Pushing the gusset of her panties aside, he peers at her pussy before looking up at her.

“My hypothesis was correct.”

Two fingers come to rub either side of her sex and she asks, “Yeah?” 

“You’re pretty down here too. Who allowed that?” Then his nose rubs up against her clit before his mouth latches on and licks and sucks.

College boys aren’t this good at oral, and Ben Solo might rival the bit of experimentation she’s done with girls. Wouldn’t that be a novelty, Ben Solo beating girls at what they do best in Rey’s pretty little head?

Ben gives head like he will die if he doesn’t; as if it’s the last watering hole in the desert. Tugging on her own hair, her spine rolls and contracts as he eats her out.

He eventually pulls away for air but doesn’t give her a break: his finger slides in and out of her, then two. He fucks her with his fingers until she’s a moaning mess, struggling to hold her pleasure in and not reward him too much.

“You’re tight around my fingers, I wonder if you can take my cock.” 

“Let’s see, huh?”

Ben stands up and pushes down his boxer briefs, half-hard. His cock is impressively long and thick, clear he’s not compensating for anything with the shy-guy act. Rey gets up on her knees and takes him into her hands, stacking them up on his cock before kissing the tip with a cute little smile on her face.

“I bet I can take all of you in my mouth.” 

He says, “Try it.” 

That goads her beyond belief. She spits onto the head of his cock, drool dribbling out of her mouth. Then her lips catch around it and she sucks and licks the tip with an enthusiasm unrivaled. She slowly works him to the back of her throat, until he bulges her cheeks before she futilely hollows them. 

She stares up at him as she gags, tears pricking the corners of her eyes. Ben looks like he’s seen the cosmos blow up, and Rey loves that look on a man. 

She pulls off to breathe, spreading her spit along his length and she reaches down and rubs her clit. He wraps his fingers in her hair, trying hard not to tug on it. She wishes he would, and she wipes her mouth before licking up the vein on the underside and watching him shiver.

“I want that inside of me.”

Ben shoves her on her back without another thought and Rey squeals. Then he goes to his nightstand and picks out a Skyn condom, checking the expiration date. He nods to himself and puts it on flawlessly, pinching the tip just enough.

Then he comes back to her and lines up, linking a hand with hers as he bunts the head of his cock against her entrance. Then he pushes in and Rey sees stars, nebula even.

She gasps at the stretch and flutters around him and he’s slow about sheathing as much of himself in her as possible. His lips ghost along her brows and she wants to bite down on the barrel of a gun. He whispers, “So perfect under me.”

Rey gives him a smile before he says, “Pretty little rich girl.”

She retorts, “You mean beautiful?” Then she bats her eyelashes, and he kisses her to seal his answer into her plush lips.

He thrusts as he does, lifting her hips as he fucks her deep and slow. Rey can feel him in her belly if she closes her eyes, the sensations radiating out from her sex mind-numbing and blowing all at the same time.

The sex is, to quote Paige Tico at afternoon tea discussing when she was fucking the water polo player, bomb. He goes fast and slow, varying his speeds and making her moan and whine and keen. 

Her release builds like Jenga blocks, and Ben is madly pulling as the tower is being built. Finally, he catches up with her when he rubs her clit, and she’s a goner. She comes around his cock with a loud and breathy whine, eyes squeezing shut as he coaxes another out of her.

And another.

Three neat little orgasms rock her body and compliment his one groaning release, spilling hot into the condom and not into her. Not that it would matter; she’s on birth control and clean.

It matters for him and she’d never fuck without complete confirmation of cleanliness. Ben gets off of her and takes the condom off his softening cock, tying it off and tossing it into a little wastebin.

Rey sits up and asking, “Do you want me to stay? I can catch a train home still-”

“Stay.” He looks away from his cellphone he’s picked up, and his eyes are encouraging.

Rey doesn’t mind if she does.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title is inspired by ["say so" by doja cat](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAYG46w1SCA)
> 
> [rey's dress (in black)](https://www.thereformation.com/products/christine-dress?color=Lemonade&via=Z2lkOi8vcmVmb3JtYXRpb24td2VibGluYy9Xb3JrYXJlYTo6Q2F0YWxvZzo6Q2F0ZWdvcnkvNWE2YWRmZDJmOTJlYTExNmNmMDRlOWM0)   
>  [faux fur coat](https://fineart.ha.com/itm/other/a-zsa-zsa-gabor-fur-coat-circa-1960swhite-floor-length-long-sleeves-large-collar-with-peaked-lapels-lined-in-ivory-c/a/5371-65024.s)   
>  [ben's apartment](https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/570-Broome-St-7B-New-York-NY-10013/2090041455_zpid/)


	3. but in all chaos, there is calculation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He speaks first, “Who the fuck are you?” 
> 
> She laughs, bitter and loathing, “I could ask the same of you.” 
> 
> “Palpatine, huh? Was this one of your family’s fucking plans-”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tags  
> the threat of violence towards another character

Thank god for blackout shades.

Rey snores peacefully beside Ben on her belly, as he slowly wakes up in the room's dark, trying very hard not to reach out and cling to her like a little otter. It’s been a while since he woke up with a woman next to him, and the temptation to cuddle is stronger than any tsunami.

He resists though, sitting up in bed carefully and quietly. Luckily it’s a Saturday, so he doesn’t have work, but he’d like his space right about now. He thinks she’s a lovely girl, and he wants to talk to her again, he just needs to be alone for the day after exerting his introvert energy. 

Ben vows to let her sleep until she wakes, vaguely remembering her setting an alarm and citing she rises early.

It’s about seven-thirty on the alarm clock and sure enough, as he watches it turn over, the typical iPhone alarm rings. Rey grumbles, reaching out blindly for the nightstand and grabbing her phone. Ben stays silent as he watches her wake up, looking at her phone screen as she turns off the alarm and turns off do-not-disturb to a barrage of texts and other notifications. He looks away then, and asks, “Hungover?” 

There’s a headache dotting his temples, and he hears her gasp a little. Maybe she forgot she went home with someone last night? Though she looks back at him, and a huge smile spreads across her face like peanut butter on a cinnamon raisin bagel. Speaking of bagels, he’s really craving them-

“I need to go.”

Oh. That soon? Rey gets out of bed, and Ben asks, “Can you leave a number?” 

Does he want to see her again? Yes, but he can’t put his finger on why. Rey collects her things, then slipping back into her dress from the night prior. The fur is folded up on the ground because of his late-night anxiety collecting to make things easier for her in the morning. 

The fur goes over her shoulders and she then reaches into her wallet and pulls a business card out. Very fancy for a student, but Ben has an inkling he’s not dealing with a normal student.

He gets out of bed and heads to his dresser, plucking out a business card of his own. The cards trade hands and Rey hops up onto her tiptoes. Her lips land on his and his arms can’t help but wrap around her back to hold her close. 

Their lips break and he whispers, “I promise I’ll call you.” 

She replies, “You better.” 

Then they let each other go, and Rey takes her leave out of his bedroom.

Ben looks at the business card.

And his mouth subsequently goes dry.

**Rey Palpatine**

**Student, Business Major**

Palpatine? He just fucked a Palpatine?

-♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡-

“I’m telling you, hung cock despite the anxious boy act. The guy was a dream.” 

Rey is holding her avocado toast mid-air as she talks, piled high with tomato, bacon, onion, cilantro, everything bagel seasoning, and more. Rose is eating her own french toast, taking Rey’s pause to wax poetic on Ben to her advantage.

“Are you going to see him again?” 

Rey takes a hot moment to take a bite of her toast before brushing her hair out of her face. “If he rings me first, yeah.” 

Rey is unbelievably nervous that he won’t call her, and she can’t pin down why. “Maybe you should invite him to your birthday.”

Rey, in true Palpatine fashion, has lavish parties for any milestone in her life. Turning twenty-two is no exception, deciding on a fun costume party that at least three hundred people are attending already.

Rey already has her costume picked out, despite her grandfather being unimpressed that she would still like a birthday party. Palpatine is notoriously private, unlike his granddaughter. Rey thrives on being in the society pages, getting captured on camera at luncheons.

She’s a socialite for all intents and purposes, a good girl in the streets and a bad girl in the sheets.

“He gave you a card right?” 

Rey nods, a little sheepish. “Girls don’t make the first move though.” 

Rose rolls her eyes and shakes her head to herself, “That’s bullshit and you know it. Be a bitch and bite first.” Rey is reaching into her Chanel boy bag, a bright barbie pink. It coordinates with her black and white pointelle dress she’s thrown on. The black sneakers (Adidas SuperStar to be exact) tap nervously on the ground of the rooftop brunch place.

She plucks out Ben’s card and hands it over, taking a deep breath and feeling the weight of the paper before Rose takes it away from her to examine.

Rose views it like she would a fine painting, an art history major at work. Then her eyes widen and she asks, “Rey?” 

Rey snatches the card from her, staring intently at it.

**Benjamin Organa-Solo**

**CEO of Resistance Apothecary**

It doesn’t click at first until Rose says, “Organa-Solo?”

Oh.

Oh no.

There’s not much she knows about the Organa-Solos beyond her grandfather’s rants. There’s bad blood there, and most of it is over Palpatine’s majority shares in Anakin Skywalker’s legacy oil business. 

Rey sincerely wishes she paid more attention as to why she’s supposed to hate the entire family. She feels bile rise in her throat though and her avocado toast isn’t so appealing anymore.

“There’s no way you can invite him to your party.” 

Rey bites her lower lip and tries to take in her surroundings to keep from panicking. If her grandfather finds out she slept with a descendant of Skywalker, she’s toast. She’s the unusable popped cork of a champagne bottle.

Almost as if on a sick dare, her phone begins to ring. 

It’s Ben. Of course, it's him.

She asks Rose, “Can I take this?”

Rose, knowing who it is, nods. Rey hops up, grabbing her phone and walking away from the table. She answers the phone, holding it to her ear as she steps into the one-person bathroom. This’ll be a quick call if she has anything to say about it.

He speaks first, “Who the fuck are you?” 

She laughs, bitter and loathing, “I could ask the same of you.” 

“Palpatine, huh? Was this one of your family’s fucking plans-”

“Believe it or not, I’m my own person and fuck on my volition. I chose wrong, clearly.” 

She wants to stick her tongue out at him and blow but she resists the urge (mainly because he can’t see it). “Well, I’m never seeing you again. That’s for sure.”

Rey snaps, “Fine, you’re not invited to my party on 53 West 53rd Street, on October 29th. Definitely not.”

“I definitely won’t be coming, Palpatine.” 

“Good, because you would need a costume if you did.”

That piques his interest, “What are you going to be?”

“None of your business. You’re not coming.” 

Ben  _ harrumphs _ and she can imagine him making a face. Rey takes that opportunity to hang up and breathe hard, eyes shutting, and blood boiling.

He hopes he tries to come.

Then she can kick his ass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's been a bit. sorry. writing is just complicated right now. thoughts and feelings welcome at [twitter](https://twitter.com/dankobah).
> 
> chapter title is inspired by ["glory and gore" by lorde](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOks2HArHf0)
> 
> [bright pink chanel bag](https://www.therealreal.com/products/women/handbags/shoulder-bags/chanel-2017-medium-boy-bag-67to1?sid=pxogmz&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=shopping&cvosrc=cse.google.google&cvo_crid=151206455459&gclid=Cj0KCQjwhZr1BRCLARIsALjRVQPZgJ_MCxLZsmwMl-e7mx5ql3ZsXWoQQMXSsFXV4CDjFTH31OxRGAgaAgOhEALw_wcB)   
>  [white pointelle dress](https://www.bodenusa.com/en-us/betty-pointelle-dress-ivory/sty-k0328-ivo?cat=C1_S2_G4)   
>  [black sneakers](https://www.adidas.com/us/superstar-shoes/EG4957.html)


	4. i hate your mom and dad, i hope they hate me back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> But, about four days before the party in question, he gets Hux cashing in a rare favor. The two work on a favor system, and anytime Ben or Hux needs something from the other, it costs the receiver in the future. 
> 
> _“I don’t want to look lame as shit, showing up to a costume party by myself while I wait for Rose to stop her best friend duties.”_
> 
> So Ben agrees, despite telling Rey he wouldn’t dare to go to her costume party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tags  
> anti-cop rhetoric (figured i would tag it, its a joke)  
> drinking   
> drunk rey   
> halloween costumes   
> birthday parties

You see, he tells himself that he’s not going to her fucking party.

Rey is easy to google and all the googling he does shows a spoiled grandfather’s pet that can’t get her face out of the society pages. Ben avoids the other elite like the plague since Harvard. There’s no such snootiness in cannabis (at least not in his sphere), and he thrives in that space.

He doesn’t thrive at parties, he certainly doesn’t fuck with Palpatines. 

But, about four days before the party in question, he gets Hux cashing in a rare favor. The two work on a favor system, and anytime Ben or Hux needs something from the other, it costs the receiver in the future. 

_ “I don’t want to look lame as shit, showing up to a costume party by myself while I wait for Rose to stop her best friend duties.” _

So Ben agrees, despite telling Rey he wouldn’t dare to go to her costume party. He gets a costume together: a Knight outfit that requires the help of Hux to put on. Hux is going as Hugh Hefner, utterly unoriginal.

When it comes to the day in question, he considers backing out. He does all day, even in the Uber on the way to the fucking party. Hux looks as comfortable as can be while Ben can barely move, feeling like an idiot for wearing such a cumbersome costume. He didn’t even get a helmet made, figuring there’s no point in hiding who he is.

If people want to talk about why he’s at her party, they can. He’s going to hell anyway as soon as his mother finds out.

“The plan as soon as we get in there is finding something to drink and then finding Rose. She’ll likely be with Rey too-”

“You know she won’t talk to me probably.” 

Hux shrugs, “You never know. You might piss her off enough to talk.” It’s been a solid twenty-five days since he’s talked to her, so he highly doubts that rhetoric. The Uber begins to slow and Hux scans out the passenger window.

“That must be it, stop.” The driver stops and Ben finds it hard to get out of the car with all of his knight regalia. Armor clinks as he does and he feels so stupid for trying on his costume when he’s going to get kicked out in fifteen minutes flat.

The house Hux spies is unassuming for this area of town except for the line that stretches down the block. He shakes his head to himself and starts to walk to the line. 

Hux calls after Ben, “Come on brute!” He turns around, does a double-take of confusion, and follows Hux. Hux steps right up to the bouncer, who looks unimpressed. 

Hux doesn’t care and Ben tries not to look the man directly in the eye. The people behind them are pissed. “We’re here for Rose Tico, under the name Hux. I brought a plus one as my RSVP specified.” 

The bouncer rolls his eyes and starts to look through the list, and Ben takes a leap of faith for some reason. His anxious throat opens, “Actually, look under Ben Organa Solo.” 

Hux looks over at him and the bouncer whips his head up like he’s seen a ghost. 

The bouncer stammers, “Go right in. Sorry for the wait.” Ben can’t help his shocked gaze as he looks at the list that the bouncer didn’t even check for his name. Knowing they’re holding up the line, he heads in first. 

The party and the Palpatine estate is insane for being smack in the middle of Manhattan. High ceilings and marble title, gold trim, and luxe wood carved furniture that bodies are sitting on or moving past also grace the rooms as they start wandering through the party.

There are so many costumes, kitty cats and dogs, Cleopatras and Roman generals. Not to mention so much liquor, a glass in everyone’s grip along with various finger foods.

The cake is also massive, on display in the palatial living room where a dance floor is set up and the DJ is spinning disco hits right now.

So far, he has not spied anyone he knows besides Hux, but boy are people looking at him. He swallows down his fear, scratching along the goatee he’s grown since he’s seen her. It works well with the ruggedness of the costume.

Ben considers just walking out. There’s no point to being here, she didn’t even want him here. 

Then he sees her.

Rey is on the dance floor, surrounded by a gaggle of girls as she breaks it down to  _ More Than a Woman  _ by the BeeGees. She’s wearing a teeny tiny white bodysuit, white angel wings on her back. Diamond studded fishnets crawl up her toned and tanned legs. She’s wearing white sneakers with the ensemble, probably hating heels.

The best part?

The bodysuit is a thong.

The bad news? 

A bunch of men a lot better for her than him are staring. 

Rose is with her and Hux is heading for her. Ben has two choices, run now, hope there’s access to an alleyway. Or go up to her, be pleasant, and take the punch if she delivers one.

Ben chooses the second option because he doesn’t know how fast he can run in armor. He walks after Hux, who’s grooving onto the floor in his robe and into Rose’s orbit to kiss her. 

Ben awkwardly dances (if you can call slight shimmying “ _ dancing” _ ) onto the floor as well and Rey hasn’t spied him yet, too busy talking to the DJ.

The song begins to fade out and  _ The Hustle  _ comes on. Since when does she like his dad’s fucking music? What happened to the dubstep girl? Everyone starts to form lines and Ben intends to get off the floor when he hears, “You!”

He freezes, turning in place to see Rey storming over to him. His hands flash out to grab her shoulders, but she grabs him and yanks him into line. The song starts and thankfully, Han taught him this disastrous line dance in case it came up at prom (it did not). 

“Why are you here?”

Her shock is palpable and Ben turns with the line and claps. “I thought i would drop in, say hey.”

She rolls her eyes as they stick their hand up, doing a disco motion three times. “Yeah, but why? Aren’t I a dirty Palpatine?” 

He coughs and continues on right in step with her. “You might be a dirty Palpatine but I can’t get you out of my head.”

She rolls her eyes and keeps dancing. “You’ve made a mistake coming here.”

“Why? Because you want to go home with one of these men?” 

She snorts, “Jealous much?”

“I know when I like fucking someone, despite their family name.” 

He shrugs though, this song feeling a million years long. At least he can dance to this, not embarrassing himself yet in clunky armor. Maybe the gods are smiling on him. “I like the girl with the fur. I like the one who hopped the subway turnstile.”

_ I like the girl that made me feel like a man. _

“You have to accept that the girl is also me, a Palpatine.” Doesn’t he know it? He knows his mother will never accept it, even if they were casually courting. She had gritted her teeth at many of his other flings, so he just stopped bringing them home.

“To answer your question, I don’t want to go to my bedroom with any of these men.” She claps with everyone as the song ends.

Then she calls, “DJ, if you could play 22!”

The guitar strums of Taylor Swift come on and she looks at Ben. “It’s my twenty-second birthday, it’s kind of a rite of passage.” She shakes her butt and then looks coquettishly back at him.

Then she asks, “Would it be wrong to ask you to stick by me?”

He raises a brow and she explains, “I don’t like any of these guys looking at me and New York men are pigs.”

He argues, “I’m a New York man.”

“You’ve got money and sense. Those guys have money and unwashed balls.” Rose comes over, in Hux’s grip.

“Look at you two canoodling.” Rose glares at him and he gets why he’s not the most welcome sight right now. He’s a family enemy and friends of the family know about that kind of scary shit.

Rey gets out, “Cool it.” Then she looks back at him. 

“I have to go to change my costume. Come with me?” This house is massive and he would like a tour, maybe to gossip to Leia about in case she needs more ammunition to love him. 

“Sure.” She starts for the way he came to get in here, stopping and holding out her hand. Everyone knows who they are here, it would be suicide to hold hands. He gets close to her instead and says, “I’m right behind you.”

She nods and then turns back forward, heading the way he came in here. Only she takes the stairs up, stopping occasionally to get birthday wishes and kisses on her cheek.

They reach a door upstairs with a number pad and she scowls at him. He gets the message and turns to face away from it, hearing her grumble and put in a code.

Then the pocket door clicks and slides open by itself, and Rey holds it like one would an elevator. They step into a spacious closet and Rey struts away from him and leans down in her thong bodysuit to take off her shoes.

The sight of a little sliver of fabric between two cheeks is indecent, and he bites his lip and thanks god his armor can hide hardness. He looks away and she straightens back up, shimmying off her angel wings and unclipping the bodysuit between her crotch.

She then looks back at him, smiling cunningly. “Are you my knight in shining armor tonight?” 

Ben confesses, “I’d like to be.” She bites her lip, turning to him and showing off full frontal nudity that makes his pulse quicken. There’s a shaved stripe on pubic hair on her pubic bone, and that wasn’t there when he fucked her.

“So I have two costumes.” 

He raises his eyebrows and she continues by holding a leather bodysuit and ears up. “Kitty cat or-“

She holds up a skintight full-body suit, with a vest printed SWAT. He jokes, “Thought you hated cops.”

She snorts and says, “I respect cops’ rights.”

He opens her mouth and she continues with a giggle, “To shut the fuck up. Kitty cat it is.”

|♡💸♡💸♡💸♡💸♡💸♡💸♡💸♡💸♡💸♡💸♡💸♡💸♡💸♡💸♡💸|

Rey drags him everywhere at the party.

Her new costume is even more enticing to people come to find out, and she’s exhausted with male attention.

And Ben glares so well and also drinks her under a table. They spend a good fifteen minutes at the bar taking back to back shots with him because there’s nothing else to do.

Until Rose comes running to them and shouting, “Palpatine is here! You better get less drunk in a couple of seconds.” 

Ben goes white as a sheet and so does Rey, realizing they’re currently fraternizing with the enemy. She turns to him and he holds ups his hands, “I’ll be seeing myself out.”

She starts to shake her head and Ben walks past her, “Wait-“

“It’s not a good idea if I stay.”

She thinks on her feet before she grabs his hand. He came to her party, he’s paid so much attention to her; he can’t just leave her. Her abandonment issues are at a head, that much is clear as she begins to run in the high heels she’s changed into. That’s hard in itself, but she’s never been a quitter.

Ben follows close behind as they shove through people to get into the elevator. One person starts to bitch and Rey turns around. “This is my party, tool.” He balks and the doors slide shut, packing the elevator like sardines. She still doesn’t let go of his hand, and she ignores all the judgmental stares from all their elevator mates. 

The door opens on her bedroom level, and she pulls Ben’s hand again. They’re safer upstairs so she walks slower, reaching her actual bedroom. It resides next to her closet, and she stares at the keypad pointedly until Ben gets the message. 

She inputs it and the door slides open like the other one. He walks in after her into her very palatial and rich girl bedroom. She much prefers the one in her apartment, but it was easier to host her party here. The sheets are a creamy blue, accented with four black posters on the bed. A stuffed elephant sits on the bed, and Ben sits too.

She breathes hard, trying to come up with a plan to keep him here but also appease her father figure. No such compromise exists, and she finds moisture saturating her eyes in drunk and foggy frustration. 

Ben stares as she sniffles, and he gets up. “Hey.” He yanks her against his metal chest, her face smashing into the surface. She doesn’t mind it.

“I’m not going to fuck your brains out tonight, but I will stay if that’s what you want. I just need Palpatine to leave.”

She nods, unsure of how to do that. “Would it be a faux-pa to leave my own party before the cake?” 

He nods, “I did that when I was seven. These boys were bullying me at my party so I left and went down to the creek behind our estate and just got fucking filthy with mud. My mother, and she would never be an abusive woman, was ready to beat my ass.”

She can’t help but laugh, and he lets her go. “Now go blow out your candles and I’ll be back before the night is done.”

She whispers, “You’re leaving?”

“For now. I’m coming to pick you up at two, to get you out of this wretched place with that wretched-“

“That’s my grandfather you’re talking about.”

He rolls his eyes, “You need to realize he’s not infallible.”

Then he turns away from her, and Rey grabs for the gap in his armor at the top of his neck, yanking him to turn back around. “You promise you’ll take me somewhere else right?”

He nods, “I promise. Now let me escape.”

She nods, placated as he then leaves the room.

Now here’s to hoping he comes back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry, it has been awhile. posting is kinda hard these days but im trying my best <3
> 
> chapter title is inspired by ["why do you love me" by charlotte lawrence](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wdYJTKoKnM)
> 
> [the playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/46ZfNtnYqXWHSdQT0YcWjd?si=S9tit5fdR8GLDKO98rDy9A)


End file.
